Southwell Leaves News and Information from Southwell Minster

August/September 2020 £2.50

Follow us on twitter @SouthwMinster www.southwellminster.org Contents… Southwell Minster’s Dragonfly Southwell Minster’s Dragonfly 2 Jill Lucas Subscription 2 mages of birds, animals and plants are frequently found in places of Welcome / Pause for Thought 3 I worship, from small village churches to imposing abbeys, cathedrals and minsters. They may have been chosen for their symbolism as in the From the Dean - Writing History 4 butterfly’s life cycle, where the larva symbolises life, its pupa death, and the Update on Chapter House Leaves project 4 adult insect resurrection. The subjects were rarely made from metal. Homecoming for weary souls 5 Bees, beetles, butterflies and flies were of religious significance and are not uncommon, but so far, the dragonfly appears to have no such position, Living at Three Miles per Hour 6 although it is found decorating the margins of psalters, missals and Books of Hours, for example the Lutterall Psalter dating from c. 1340. The 5-bar gate 7 Pre-dating the building of the Minster’s Chapter House (circa 1280) a God and the Coronavirus 8 vestibule linked the nave to an outside baptismal pool via a trumeau or gate. Bible Verses for Reflection 8 It is suggested that a pillar from this gate was moved at a later date to its present position between the Quire and the vestibule leading to the Chapter What if 2020 is the year we’ve been House. waiting for ? 9 Decorating the pillar is an iron carving, hinged on one side, of a so far unidentified creature. What are the Church’s priorities? 10 What is it and why is it here? The creature Father Hosam becomes Bishop Hosam 11 may be a representation of an Aeschnid nymph, an immature Hawker dragonfly, the Service Times for August and September 12 bulging eyes are clearly visible as is the thorax and the stylised segmented abdomen. Southwell Music Festival 13 Why is it here? A possible explanation lies in Lay Clerk in lockdown 13 the original position of the pillar viz. part of the trumeau leading to the baptismal pool. From the Canon Precentor 13 Dragonflies before maturity live their nymphal state in water which could Race, Identity & Faith 14 symbolise life. When the nymph is ready to Tribalism in the Media and Online 15 leave the water, it crawls up a suitable structure and then splits its case to emerge as Archaeology in the Residence Garden 16 a free flying mature insect. This could be Whose garden was this? 17 symbolic of a new life in Christ or of a new birth. News from Newark & Southwell Deanery 18 East Trent Online Life in Lockdown 19 Covid-19 Worldwide 20 Subscription

Did you know... ? 21 If you or friends you may know would like to take out an annual subscription and receive copies by post please send details of your name, address and Confinement a la Francaise 22 telephone number with a cheque for £24:00, made out to Southwell Isabella’s Journal - highlights from a Cathedral Chapter, to Christine Kent, 16 Halloughton Road, Southwell, Notts, NG25 0LR. 9 year old’s lockdown diary 23 For more information please contact me on 01636 812750 or email: [email protected]. If you live in Southwell I will be happy to deliver your copies by hand and the annual cost will be £15:00. Christine Kent (on behalf of the editorial team) Front Cover credit: The empty nave by Tom Hislop

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2 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Welcome to the August/September edition of Southwell Leaves

he doors of Southwell Minster are unlocked, but the ‘Year so organ music to reflect the meaning of the words is played at T of No Hugs’ continues. We are in the transition phase points during the service. As time goes by, you can email https:// between complete lockdown during the worst of the coronavirus www.southwellminster.org/worship/pew-news/ to read the pandemic and the full gamut of the Minster’s activities. As we go weekly Pew News and get up-to-date information about what is to press, the Minster is open from 11.00 am till 3.00pm each day, planned. and there is a shortened schedule of services. Many people have been delighted to return to live services, sitting on widely-spaced The magazine includes accounts of what happened during seats, while others are more comfortable to continue for now lockdown - from an English schoolgirl, from France and from an worshipping at online services – something that we continue for online medical conference. There’s a report from those who pray some time yet. Our cover photo of the empty nave suggests silently every Thursday. Two groups of rural parishes in the possibilities for the future. Welcome to this late-summer edition! neighbouring part of our diocese have described their church life during those restricted months. There are also articles about what First, there are things you won’t find in this edition. The list of can be learned from living through a pandemic: Tom Hislop and services stops on September 6th. Though there are hopes about Vincent Ashwin contribute their thoughts about the ecological what may start up again, we only wish to publicise events that will movement and the need to conserve and respect the natural definitely happen. There is no Contacts Page, as many team world. Jim Wellington refutes the theory that COVID-19 was a members will still be furloughed during August, and the Minster punishment from God. Office will only open during September, once everything is COVID- proof and it is safe for staff members to return. There are no The coronavirus especially hit those in living in poverty and in reports from Sacrista Prebend, the Music Foundation or the minority communities, and this coincided with world-wide Education Department, as their work will not resume for some demonstrations about racism. We publish articles by David time yet. Shannon and Hugh Middleton that ask what a Christian response to divisions in society should be. However, after nearly four months, there are services in the Minster again, and Dean Nicola reflects on this significant event in So there is plenty to think about, and we hope you enjoy this ‘From the Dean’ on page 4. We also print an abridged version of magazine. her sermon on July 5th, the first service for fifteen weeks. The medical and government advice is that there should be no singing, Vincent Ashwin

Towards our Ecological Awareness

'Bishop John Robinson, in his book 'The New Reformation?', has this to say: We have got to relearn that 'the house of God' is primarily the world in which God lives, not the contractor's hut set up in the grounds . .' (Quoted by Dean Martyn Percy of Christ Church, Oxford in 'Reflections for Daily Prayer 2019/2020', Monday 6 July).

Pause for Thought

or the last few years there has been a Thought for the Week in the F Minster's Pew News. Here are two quotes from 2016. Discipleship Following Jesus does not mean slavishly copying his life. It means making his choice of life your own, starting from your own potential, and in the place where you find yourself. It means living for the values for which Jesus lived and died. Rule for a New Brother, Edited by Henri Nouwen (DLT 2nd edition, 1986), Section 2

Our inter-connectedness The ‘island illusion’ seduces us into believing ourselves to be self-sufficient. We know that the world consists of oceans, continents and islands but we are much less likely to reflect that, underneath the fluctuating water-levels, the world is actually just one single lump of rock. The continents and islands dominate our attention because they contribute very significantly to our identity, culture, language and sense of security. Not really surprising, then, that we can attach more importance to our island-independence than to the oneness of the bedrock beneath. …But isolationism breeds fear, while Jesus constantly assures us that perfect love casts out fear. From Margaret Silf, ‘Wayfaring’, Doubleday 2002, pp 23-4, 39

3 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 From the Dean - Writing History

n the day the Minster held its first service of public worship Yes, the Church has been fully O after ‘lockdown’, I asked Michael Tawn, our Deputy Head alive although the doors were Verger, to write history in the Service Register in case the locked; creative online Honorary Librarian or County Archivist in 2520 AD wonders what worship bringing people happened in the spring and early summer of the Year of Our Lord together even at a distance, 2020. He made an appropriately bold entry across a whole page. pastoral care, praying from It is now a permanent record inscribed in black registrar’s ink: our homes, support for the vulnerable in the community ‘The Cathedral was closed on 23rd March 2020 by the order of Her all showed we were not asleep. But our sacred buildings comfort Majesty’s Government as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. us psychologically because in them we are not alone, we are Worship continued online. The Cathedral reopened for private surrounded by the Church living and departed. They are holy prayer on 16th June and for public worship on 5th July.’ places where, in T S Eliot’s famous phrase, ‘prayer has been valid’. Even those without a professed faith rarely leave unmoved. I still feel emotional and shocked absorbing the reality that for all those days we were unable to meet for physical worship. I have resisted the phrase the ‘new normal’ but we now seem to be emerging from ‘lockdown’ tentatively knowing that much is When restrictions were lifted in mid-June, permitting us at last to uncertain. Many of our plans for this year have had to be reopen for private prayer and reflection, it felt a huge relief. postponed. The editors kindly asked to print my sermon preached Making the Minster ‘COVID-compliant’, to use the public health on our first Sunday back together to share in the Sunday jargon, meant putting up garish warning notices, introducing a Eucharist - well, 60 of us pre booked, no singing, hugs or one-way system, opening the West doors to increase ventilation, handshakes – but at least we were gathered around Christ in marking the floor with the then required two metre distance, and word and sacrament. I mention how these four months have rearranging chairs. A generous donation arrived on the very day amplified the pressing needs of our times into which now the we needed to order hand sanitiser units and personal protective Church is called to bring the light, love, and compassion of Christ. equipment. We quickly organised a rota of clergy to be present each day during the four hours the Minster was open. The lit ‘We cannot afford to forget any experience, even the most Paschal candle was set in the centre of the nave as a symbol of painful’, wrote Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary General the risen Christ in our midst, radiating hope and light for all the of the UN and author of the spiritual classic ‘Markings’. There is world and its future. Tears, relief, joy, a sense of home coming, indeed still much to process, learn and change as we recover the unburdening of sorrow, loneliness, anxiety, thanksgiving, clarity of vision and mission for the future. remembrance of a loved one - all human emotion seemed to be unlocked within the hearts of those who came – nearly 600 in 19 May these summer weeks allow you time for rest, recreation and days. reflection.

Every blessing, Dean Nicola

Update on Chapter House Leaves project The leaves of the tree for

eritage Conservation Restoration Ltd, the excellent contractors working on the Quire H roof repair and replacement phase of the project, were off site for six weeks, but when they returned in early May they progressed fast with impressive determination and caught up - helped by the fact that work was not interrupted by services! The scaffolding will be dismantled by the time you read this article.

The next phase of work has begun in the slype and Chapter House. The team from Croft are removing slabs to prepare for the installation of underfloor heating and for the first time in its history of over 700 years – electricity. A cantilever lift will ensure that access can be for the healing of the nations everyone. This means that there is some disruption to the north quire aisle and across to the south door. The area is closed to the public, but a time lapse camera will capture the progress of the work. Sadly, some of the activity work with various groups has had to be postponed or cancelled given the current restrictions.

The work in the garden, and on the paths and external lighting starts in the autumn. Thank you to everyone who participatedin the survey trialling the new guidebooks. The various teams and consultants are working well together, and we hope the project will complete by early summer 2021, leading to a big celebration party! Dean Nicola

4 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Homecoming for weary souls

he sermon preached by Dean Nicola at the Minster’s contemplative prayer (some 70 of us on Monday evening). The T first Sunday after lockdown 5th July church buildings may have closed but we have prayed from our hearts and homes. Yes, we have missed the fellowship of We last gathered for the Eucharist in the middle of Lent, 119 church, the sharing in the sacrament but God has been faithful days and fifteen Sundays ago. In some ways, it still feels like and present. For those back in church today, it is perhaps Lent. I remember Ash Wednesday vividly and sensing that especially critical to ask ‘What have I found “gift” through this things were uncertain and fragile as coronavirus look its grip of time; for what can I thank God?’ the world. We could not imagine then what we see now, or the way it was to suddenly change our worship and freedom to Where do we look for the wisdom that offers security in an gather and so many ordinary everyday things like leaving home anxious and turbulent world and rest for the soul? Jesus says to go to work or shopping or school. in his most quoted and most tender of sayings; ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I Lent begins with that most profound symbolic action of the will give you rest’. Learn by being yoked like an ox in a plough liturgy. The ashes are imposed on our forehead in the sign of team, following wherever he goes. the cross with the words: ‘Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return: turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ’. I wonder if the Church needs again to rediscover this simplicity, We are brought up short, confronted with our fragility and gentleness, humility of heart. How can we be a blessing to our mortality. Lent provokes a spirit of humility based on heartfelt communities? How can we call home to God those likely four and full repentance, not only for individual sins but for million heading for unemployment, or the students feeling participation in corporate wrongdoing and societal injustice. hopeless about their plans for university, or those who have been utterly torn apart by loneliness, those searching for rest COVID 19 has faced us with a good few of those – racial for their soul? Do we need to rediscover the generous inequality and the ways the virus has hit the poor and hospitality of God in Christ, and share it? vulnerable, the elderly, the lowest paid care workers and bus drivers who we had not given too much thought to before. It It may feel like a prolonged Lent but no, Death has been has challenged us with uncomfortable issues around climate conquered. Light has overcome darkness. There is nothing to change and how our lifestyle as insatiable consumers is out of fear. Today some will receive the sacrament after the long fast: control (which – if you remember that long ago – was the focus for others they must wait. But all of us are hungry for the for our Lent study); food production methods, the exploitation resurrection, new purpose and direction and hope only God of animals, which may have triggered this virus to mutate to can bring in Christ. humans. It has highlighted the millions of children and adults for whom to stay home is not to stay safe, and the plight and suffering of the two-thirds world is unimaginable.

We’ve seen that humanity seems to have made some poor choices and now we’re living with the consequences. St Paul names this strange separation from ourselves and deep dissatisfaction as sin. ‘I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do’ (Romans 7:19). We want to do what is right, and do not do it. We find goodness compelling, but we do not do it.

Paul knows that God has rescued us from this deep disorder in Jesus Christ. But there is still transformation to undergo for each one of us. We have to learn through all the circumstances and seasons of life, to see and to desire what is right and good - not just for us but for others. This is part of our return to God, what St Augustine describes as ‘coming home to ourselves’, for in that humbling action we discover more of the abundant goodness and compassion of God even in our foolishness, our restlessness, our dis-ease. So, paradoxically, being in God’s service is ‘perfect freedom’ says Augustine. God’s desire for our wellbeing and the healing of the world is forever calling us to a new future, a new hope…

In this ‘COVID-prolonged Lent’, have we reassessed priorities, our use of time, relationships that may need mending? It’s good to ask ’What have I learned?’ What is going to be important, going on from here? Many report they have rediscovered the routine and the gift of daily prayer, and Christ the Light of the World, by Peter Eugene Ball

5 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Living at Three Miles per Hour

he restrictions we all Brackenhurst runs what appears T faced during the height to be a model farm, where the of the 2020 pandemic had crops look healthy, there are some unusual results. One was strips of woodland, and each field that the footpaths in the local has a margin for wild-life. Though area became well worn by the erecting of a wind turbine on passing walkers. At the early university land had been stage we were told, ‘Stay at prevented, caring for the future of home, but you may leave the the planet in other ways features house once a day for an hour heavily in courses advertised at of exercise,’ so most people the campus. Disconcerting clunks did indeed go out. At all times emerge from the glasshouse area, of day, people walked out into where research is being done into the fields and lanes: workers producing food in places where before or after a day at the energy and water supplies are Lincoln Red calves at Brackenhurst computer screen, parents with limited. The herd of Lincoln Red or without their children, pensioners afraid of claustrophobia. beef cattle and horses from the equine centre eat contentedly in And what did we find? the fields. This is farming at its best. Farming and the natural world feature largely in the teachings of We found farming and we saw the diversity of crops grown in Christ. ‘Jesus went through the cornfields on the Sabbath.’ ‘I am our area: we were walking through fields of wheat, barley, oats, the good shepherd’, he said. ‘Hear the parable of the sower’. linseed, oil-seed rape, sugar-beet, turnips, potatoes, miscanthus ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed’. ‘Consider the for bio-fuel, and hay, maize and beans for animals’ winter feed. lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I In Norwood Park dozens of workers, many of them flown in from tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of Eastern Europe, began as early as 5.30am to pick the summer these.’ These were the words of a rural man in an agricultural fruit. age two thousand years ago, and Christians have continued to see God Walking also made us feel a part in the natural world. of Creation, rather than an observer of it, and it was obvious The fourth-century poet-theologian, St how the concept of Mother Earth Ephrem the Syrian, wrote many was born. Wild-life has hymns which are full of theological proliferated this year. Fewer cars reflections on the created order. God on the roads meant it was easier has two witnesses, he taught: to hear familiar birdsongs: Scripture and Nature, which both blackbirds and thrushes in our testify to God’s beauty, goodness and gardens, swallows and house love. England has a tradition of martins near farms, skylarks and naturalist parsons, most notably yellow-hammers over the fields, Gilbert White, who combined being chiffchaffs and wrens among the vicar of Selborne with describing in trees, and buzzards and swifts detail the flora and fauna of his parish, soaring everywhere. People in wonder at its complexity. Many of reported seeing foxes, hares and us have prayed to God in the natural roe deer within half a mile of world over the years, maybe on a Alongside the River Trent town. Butterflies, bees and mountain or by the sea or looking at a dragonflies fed among the cow- sunset. God speaks through his parsley, poppies and rushes. Life at walking-pace means seeing, creation, and this is picked up in the Creation Season which the hearing and smelling the countryside with clearer senses. Church of England now asks us to celebrate each September.

However, there are fewer birds and insects than there used to Now that lockdown is over, will we all go back to being more be. Climate change and intensive farming have affected our sedentary, and walk less? The COVID-19 restrictions were an environment, and – according to many scientists – the interruption to normal life, and we can’t go back to a pre-car and pandemics of the last twenty years are connected with our pre-computer age. But maybe we will act to prevent further misuse of Creation. Brackenhurst College gives us some climate change by flying off for fewer holidays, eating more guidelines for the future. Though we missed the Rogation sustainably, driving smaller cars and being more energy-efficient. procession this year, walking through the estate has helped us We can give support to the inter-faith leaders who have called appreciate its work, and to understand the college’s name as the on the Government to ensure its post-COVID economic School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Studies of recovery plan does not bypass care for the Environment. If we Nottingham Trent University. Food production and care for the remain as close to the heartbeat of the planet and to local environment (what Christians call ‘Creation’) run side by side. farming as many of us felt during those months living at three miles per hour, we will treat Mother Earth with more respect.

Vincent Ashwin 6 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 The 5-Bar Gate

During the lockdown, as you can see on page 9, the weekly Jesus said ‘Enter by the narrow gate. Wide is the gate and broad meetings for Silence and Meditation have continued online. One the road that leads to destruction, and many enter that way; of our members, Olga Hudson, has ensured that we have had a narrow is the gate and constricted the road that leads to life, and leader for the day. So, on July 9th I contributed the following those that find them are few’ (Mathew 7:13-14) meditationThe 5-bar gate, which in turn was the inspiration for Robin Old Helen Sills’ beautiful poem The Holy Spirit. We hope that you will find these two pieces a blessing on your own journeys.

On Father’s Day last month my daughter presented me with a copy of Soulful Nature by Brian Draper and Howard Green (Canterbury Press: 2020). The authors have been close friends for many years and the book is an account of a series of walks they took together in what they call the ‘South Country’.

The walks were leisurely, short (2-3 miles) and fairly unstructured. As I started to read their diary accounts, I found that I could relate to their laid-back approach that resembled the permitted daily exercise allowance of the recent Corvid-19 restrictions.

Most days during ‘Lockdown’ Kay and I set out on a short walk, often being uncertain exactly where we would walk to and for how long. Most often we would set off away from Southwell along Kirklington Road. The route is wooded or bounded by high hedges, and the overall effect is often rather gloomy – until you get to the ‘5-bar gate’ where suddenly there is an open view across Norwood Park Golf Course.

On one July walk Brian Draper and Howard Green discovered just such a view at Salisbury ‘And here is a 5-bar gate, and a 5-bar Helen Sills wrote a poem in response to this meditation gate always seems to offer an invitation. ‘Stop. Learn. Watch’(p.91).

So here we are in Southwell, (please join us) leaning on the 5- The Holy Spirit bar gate: resting- it’s hot today - and we are glad of the support. Today the view is unobstructed because the golf course is still on The road is gloomy lockdown. Nothing is moving apart from a distant crow. We Brief shafts of sunlight watch a bit longer, but still nothing moves; somewhere, hidden in Pierce the dark the bushes, a song thrush is practising his repetitive melody- Swift as will o’ the wisp surely his mate is impressed. Another evening: same gate, and They vanish we meet a friend walking the other way. ‘ How are you?’ ‘Fine, you ok?’ ‘Yes. Be glad when it will be over’. Another day: Same The road is winding gate: another friend; ‘Ok’ ‘Yes. Bye’. People have suddenly Potholes, slippery surfaces become friendly, (even when we are passing by on the other Uneven slabs side, keeping ‘social distance’). The sunlight promises Sight for the stumbler But remember we are in no hurry; the view does not change much as the weeks pass, but we are still here. ‘Perhaps we will We struggle to reach the gate walk a bit further tomorrow; or how about going round the other Where promise beckons way?’ The gate is about halfway, and we will be glad of the rest. But is elusive

Funny gate this; and I know, strictly speaking it’s a 7-bar one, but The gate is light who’s counting, and 7-bar seems more poetic. It’s functional grey A single finger steel. In fact, it’s a double gate. Can’t be for golfers. Or walkers Opens it (not allowed). One of life’s unsolved mysteries. Hurry home before the rain comes. She/He will come through And walk with us Then one day a sign has sprouted at the gate – one of those As we carry along bright yellow folding ones. It reads ‘Road Closed for one day on The treacherous road June 19th’. Will we be able to get through? Better go a different way. Pity, I was getting to look forward to the daily walk to the 5- Side by side bar gate. Our unseen helper and guide.

7 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 God and the Coronavirus This Photo by Unknown Author

‘It’s all because of same-sex marriage’ a neighbour said to me. And we do not have to look ‘What is?’ I asked, puzzled. ‘The coronavirus, of course’, he said. very far to see Him at work. ‘It’s God’s way of punishing us for allowing gays to marry each We see Him, first and other’. Somewhat surprised, and being in a hurry, I simply said, foremost, in the dedicated ‘Oh, I don’t think God works in that way’, and left it at that. health professionals and Later in the day, while on Facebook, I came across a number of carers, who regularly attend posts from Christians, offering their thoughts on the theological the victims of this dreadful origins of Covid-19. The theme of divine judgment featured disease. We see Him in those strongly, though the precise motive for the holy wrath took who place themselves daily on different forms, depending on the chosen whipping post of each the line for the sake of those contributor. within their care. We see Him in those who willingly and Two things, in particular, disturbed me about these posts. First of tragically lay down their lives all, there was the deeply misguided and grossly insensitive for those whom they are seeking to save. This is the God whom opportunism which was on display, even worn as a badge of we see and worship and adore in Christ, and not the caricature honour, by my brothers and sisters in Christ. A virus is killing which belongs to the ‘former things’ and the ‘things of old’. thousands of people and plunging so many families into grief and loss, and the message from the followers of Christ is, ‘You Jim Wellington deserve it’.

Secondly, I felt an inner shame and revulsion against the caricature of my God which was being presented to the world through such a superficial analysis. To be sure, the Bible is awash Bible Verses for Reflection with plenty of stories and images of God’s wrath, mainly, though not exclusively, in the Old Testament. The expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, Noah and the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, to name but a few.

Throughout the Old Testament there is an overwhelming concern to protect the holiness of God from human contamination. This concern forms the basis for the laws excluding certain people from public worship. And indeed, the expulsion, annihilation and God with us destruction of those who suffered in the three stories above can God said [during Jacob’s dream of a ladder between earth and all be read in this light. The Holy God cannot live with unholiness, heaven], ‘Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever and therefore the unholy have to be eliminated. This is the you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave assumption on which my neighbour and the Facebook you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob contributors base their theological interpretations of human woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place— catastrophe. and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, What if, however, that assumption has been surpassed? What if and this is the gate of heaven.’ the image of a Holy God who has to be protected from His unholy creatures no longer holds sway? What if, far from demanding His How God works own protection from unholiness God plunges, in person, straight Jesus said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or into the mess that human beings have made of His creation? what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, What if God says, as He did through the mouth of the prophet of when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the exile (Isaiah 43:18-19), ‘Do not remember the former things, earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest nor consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of it springs forth, do you not perceive it?’ the air can make nests in its shade.’ Mark 4: 30-32 In the Incarnation of Christ, the Word made flesh, God has done all these things. He is no longer the Untouchable who demands Suggestions based on the ancient tradition of Sacred Reading justice, but the Crucified One who forgives His murderers. He is ('Lectio Divina') no longer the disgusted Creator who drives His disobedient creatures out of His presence, but the generous Father whose  Read the verses slowly, perhaps more than once. unconditional love welcomes back the wayward son. He is no  If any word or phrase strikes you in particular, stay with longer the harsh lawgiver who decrees death for marital it, repeating it quietly to yourself. infidelity, but the merciful rabbi who refuses to condemn the  Reflect about what God might be saying to you through adulteress. Christ is the ‘new thing’ which God does. And all our this. theological interpretations have to be funnelled through Him.  Move into quietness, resting in God's loving presence. So, if we are looking for God in the coronavirus crisis, we do not start with divine judgment. We start with divine love and mercy.

8 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for?

The Silence and Meditation Group during Lockdown

uring the lockdown, the Thursday Silence and Meditation Thomas, The Bright Field, which she had once read, at his D Group has been far from idle. How could we continue request, to a dying friend. [The poem can be found online.] with our life and with our meditations? Move onto email? Surely By contrast, in early July, Kate Sartain, quoting Ecclesiastes 3 not; our meetings are live, and we didn’t have any e-addresses. ( that there is a time for everything), and only too conscious of Zoom? Too visual for silent prayer. Overnight the term leader, the needs of the world, insisted that now is a time for change. whose e-skills were abysmal, morphed into a compiler/ weaver, She used this poem by Leslie Wight, sent to her by her daughter giving birth to a format more structured than that ‘on the as an illustration. ground’ in the hope of welding us all together. What if 2020 isn’t cancelled? So on the first Thursday of the official lockdown, those of us who What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for? could, found a quiet place at our usual time, lit a candle, said our A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw – that it usual Candle Prayer and settled down to our first e-Meditation, finally forces us to grow. kindly prepared by Canon Richard with very little notice. A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us from our Mysteriously, some of us were acutely aware of each other’s ignorant slumber. presence. It was the day after The Annunciation. Reflecting on A year we finally accept the need for change. risk, Richard pointed out that, in creating and entering humanity, Declare change. Work for change. Become the change. God had put himself at risk, as Creator and Saviour; a risk whose A year we finally band together, instead of pushing each other tragic consequences were ultimately overturned by the empty further apart. tomb; a risk also entered by Christ’s Mother, in her joys and in 2020 isn’t cancelled, but rather, the most important year of them her sorrows. His conclusion? ‘God still places himself into our all? hands, just as he placed himself, as a writhing, screaming, new born babe, into Mary’s loving, girlish arms.’ As you can see, whether in or out of lockdown (‘cocooning’), as a longstanding Group , we were well used to running ourselves. Of The remaining examples demonstrate changes of mood over the the 19 Meditations (until 31.7), most were ‘home grown’. And whole period. Angela Lane faced full-on the very real agony of that’s only half the story, for members also sent in prayers and the Crisis by sharing some words by Richard Rohr that she had intercessions; the prayers often coming from Angela Ashwin’s found particularly helpful. His subject was the Lamentation helpful compilations. A special joy was the return as e-members Psalms, especially Psalm 22, My God, my God, why have you of people who had either left the district or found our usual forsaken me? Stressing the need for Christians to develop timing too difficult. physical, emotional and spiritual resistance, he wrote: ‘Prayers of lamentation arise in us when we sit and speak out to God and Significantly, our meditations mirror the composition our group: one another, stunned, sad, and silenced by the tragedy and different Anglican traditions, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic and absurdity of human events’. His final conclusion, however, was Orthodox Christian thought. Nonetheless, wherever we have that although at these times the agony was acute, such psalms come from and wherever we are, it is silence, deep silence, and always ended with an upward thrust. friendship that bind us all together.

In April Angela Ashwin and Olga Hudson ensured that we were Olga Hudson able to face both the agony of Holy Week and the joy of Easter, gathered all together in the same spiritual space. Fortunately by now, our members were being greatly sustained by the Minster’s online streaming. We also found we could ‘embrace’ the Group at the start and end of the session, and could pray with gestures to remarkable effect during a very slow ‘reading’ of Angela’s poem A New Crown of Thorns.

In May, Elizabeth Yule revealed that shielding in solitude was, remarkably, a place of calm acceptance and wonder. Asking herself, ‘Why, in the midst of all the sorrow, grief and uncertainty here and throughout the world would I be thinking about the Kingdom of Heaven?’ She named the slow pace of life, the acceptance of solitude and the discovery of what was of most real value to her: the selflessness of others, kind neighbours, precious contact with even faraway family and friends and, yes, online worship. In her permitted daily exercise hour, she had time to take a little early morning walk, especially to see the cowslips on the Potwell Dyke Grasslands, to watch the antics of the birds from her window and to see the trees come into leaf. Finally, she left us with a jewel - an unforgettable poem by R.S.

9 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 What are the Church’s Priorities?

David Shannon asks: Eucharist, which had become more a social occasion than a Do we build up the Church by tearing statues down? spiritual one. He also criticised their tendency to seek litigation in the courts when two church members had fallen out! But t is said that at the siege of Constantinople in 1204 the above all he condemned their tribalism. They would latch onto I Church Leaders were debating within the newest church orator and put him on the city. Among their topics were the a pedestal. Paul’s ‘rival’ was a great number of angels that could dance on the preacher called Apollos. Paul appealed to head of a pin. They went on to discuss if a them to refrain from factionalism: ‘What fly fell in holy water, was the water after all is Apollos, what is Paul? I planted polluted or the fly sanctified? I cannot the seed, Apollos watered it, but God help but feel that often our temptation as made it grow!’ (1 Cor 3 v 5 :NIV). Paul Christians is to be side-lined into was evidently not as exciting an orator as discussions which are peripheral to God’s Apollos, but it did not matter. ‘For we are purpose for us. God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building’. We should resist As I write, Canterbury Cathedral has ephemeral issues diverting the church. confirmed that its artworks are ‘under What then would Paul be saying to review’ to ensure that any connected with Christians in our time? In 1 Corinthians: 3 slavery, colonialism or other contentious he gives some principles to the believers figures are, ‘contextualised or pulled in Corinth. He likens the church in down’. This is of course in response to the Corinth to any of the great buildings his media storm following the tearing down readers would see every day. He of Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol. emphasises the importance of good Colston followed his father into the family Our art often reflects our own context. A foundations, of building materials and business, trading wine, fruits, textiles and wall painting from the Cathedral in the quality of each stone. slaves until his death in 1721. Orvieto, Italy. The foundation of everything should be the I have some difficulty in any widespread attempt to censor gospel of Jesus Christ. If the church is not proclaiming the history. One reason is that when you start, where do you stop? importance of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, then its work Should we remove statues of Noman overlords because they (however up to date on worldly issues) will have poor enslaved the Anglo-Saxons after 1066? Secondly, should people foundations. With a sure foundation the church can build, but it today be made to feel guilty over wrongs committed by their must prioritise, because building materials can be gold, but can forebears in another age with different values? I find the equally be wood, hay or straw! Of the issues with which our modern vogue of people (often church life is now dominated, which will politicians) apologising for past historical prove to be straw, blown away on the next wrongs both vacuous and unnecessary. wind? Thirdly, we need to avoid ’being conformed to this world’ as Paul advises To Paul, the most important issue in church in Romans 12 v2 but be transformed by building was the ‘costly stones’ (v12). the renewing of our minds. ‘Then you These are the people who make up the will be able to test and approve what membership of the church. If, as in Corinth, God’s will is - His good, pleasing and the depth of their spiritual life was shallow perfect will’ (NIV translation). Our (‘infantile’ 1 Corinthians 3v2) the church world’s current obsessions do not need would totter. But if each stone was strong to become a stage on which we tread. and well placed, the building would stand as a witness to Christ and his Resurrection. My recourse for guidance always starts In the early days, Paul mentioned Christ with scripture. Corinth was a large, and his Resurrection so often that at times cosmopolitan city, successful in trade in listeners thought Resurrection was another Paul the Apostle’s time. Yet Paul’s letter, person! preserved as 1 Corinthians, spoke to them then as I believe we need to speak Where does this leave the church on vital to ourselves now. Corinth was multi- issues such as funding its crumbling cultural, with statues to both Roman buildings, maintaining a quality of worship, and Greek gods. They prided themselves European churches interpret Christian meeting the needs of the poor and on their religious tolerance, allowing figures in their own artistic way vulnerable or reaching out to generations statues of the Roman overlords whose thinking has been dominated by alongside Apollo and Aphrodite. Strangely to our modern ears, secular scepticism? Let alone issues within the church such as Paul does not once suggest tearing these statues down. Not financial viability, offering equal opportunities without fear or even those of the Roman tyrants! Instead Paul inveighs against favour in participation and employment and safeguarding all the Corinthian church for their failure to treat properly the worshippers. Our commission is to stand up as witnesses to the

10 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To preach it, to teach Father Hosam becomes it and to live it. Then all aspects of church life will prosper? No doubt Christians will have a view (or many views, if we are Bishop Hosam like the Corinthians) on contemporary issues, such as Covid-19 and its effects. Also, on climate change, on the fact that all lives matter, on globalisation and the distribution of wealth and on n Sunday 14th June the Very Reverend Hosam E. Naoum the issues of statues both within and outside our churches! In a O was ordained as Bishop in the Church of God and Coadjutor recent interview on Radio 4, our Archbishop Justin was asked if Bishop in the Diocese of Jerusalem. The consecration took place at the trespasses should be forgiven of those symbolised by the Cathedral Church of St. George the Martyr, Jerusalem. Hosam statues, rather than tearing the statues down? He is quoted as was consecrated by three bishops, according to the constitution. replying: “We can only do that if we have got justice, which Archbishop Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem, who will retire next year, means the statue needs to be put in context. Some will have to was joined by Archbishop Michael Lewis, Bishop of Cyprus and the come down”. Gulf, and Bishop Peter Eaton (Southeast Florida) from the Episcopal Church of the USA. Bishop Hosam will become the I disagree! The life of Christ and his followers must be Archbishop of Jerusalem following the retirement of Archbishop characterised by unconditional forgiveness, as Christ showed on Suheil next year. the Cross. We may disagree with aspects of the past life of some historical figures whose statues adorn our churches and public Though there were restrictions on the size of the congregation places. But if we wait for justice for the wrongs they may have owing to the pandemic, there was still an atmosphere of great committed, we will wait in vain! WE must forgive their wrongs excitement and joy as the ceremony took place. Fortunately a and move on. Not least because in the context of their times, brilliantly filmed live-stream of the event via YouTube meant that they knew not the wrongs which they did. those with an internet connection could see the proceedings. (The photos in this article are from the computer screen!)

For friends in Southwell who have known Hosam and the Church in the Holy Land for many years, there were some special moments at the heart of the service. We saw him smile shyly at his mother and his wife Rafa as they helped him to put on his cope, ready to be consecrated. Father Fuad of St Paul’s Shefa’Amr sang ‘Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire’ unaccompanied in Arabic, to the plainsong tune but with some Arab ornamentation. Suheil kissed Hosam on both cheeks as part of the ceremony. There was a genuine atmosphere of humility and awe during the service, rather than pomp and power. This showed itself especially as Hosam thanked his family and colleagues for their support and for entrusting him with his new role.

Archbishop Justin Welby, as leader of the Anglican Communion, sent a message which was read out: ‘We have known you and your marvellous family for years, and you have been an example and inspiration. I am utterly delighted to be working with you.’ Bishop Hosam thanks his family, friends and colleagues in the Holy Land and around the world There were greetings from the Most Revd Michael Curry, on behalf of US Anglicans and Palestinian Anglicans in the USA. ‘What a wonderful moment for Anglicans around the world who look to Jerusalem as a spiritual home! A bishop belongs to all, to bear the burdens of all. If this is true of every bishop, it perhaps true of our bishop in Jerusalem most of all. Not only are you known and much loved within the [US] Episcopal Church; you are deeply respected by leaders of our worldwide Communion and of other churches. You have played an important ecumenical role in enabling the churches to speak clearly on behalf of all the peoples of the Holy Land. You have been a highly sensitive pastor. At a time of increasing world tension, we celebrate the crucial relationships that you have built with the leadership of the three great Abrahamic faiths and the people of the countries that make up your diocese.’

A message came from Canada too: ‘Hospitality, to friends and strangers alike, has been a sign of the inclusive love of God. We Hosam kneels, ready for the laying-on of hands are glad that the schools and hospitals of the diocese will be safe in the hands of someone as able and gracious as yourself.’ From the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem The people of Southwell Minster wish the new bishop well.

11 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Services at Southwell Minster

*Morning Prayer takes place via 12 Wednesday 25 Tuesday Microsoft Teams. To take part, email 8.30am Morning Prayer* 8.30am Morning Prayer* [email protected]. 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW)

**Booking recommended: go to 13 Thursday 26 Wednesday https://www.southwellminster.org/ 8.30am Morning Prayer* 8.30am Morning Prayer* worship/services-calendar/. 1.15pm Holy Communion (BCP) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW)

14 Friday 27 Thursday August 8.30am Morning Prayer* 8.30am Morning Prayer* 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 1.15pm Holy Communion (BCP) 1 Saturday 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 15 Saturday 28 Friday 2 SUNDAY The Blessed Virgin Mary 8.30am Morning Prayer* The Eighth Sunday after Trinity 12 noon Holy Communion (CW) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 10.00am Cathedral Eucharist** 2.00pm Holy Matrimony (CW; in the Minster/online) 29 Saturday 3.00pm Evening Prayer with 16 SUNDAY 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) Organ Reflections** The Tenth Sunday after Trinity 10.00am Cathedral Eucharist** 30 SUNDAY 3 Monday (CW; in the Minster/online) The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity 8.30am Morning Prayer* 12 noon Holy Baptism 10.00am Cathedral Eucharist** 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 3.00pm Evening Prayer with (CW; in the Minster/online) Organ Reflections** 3.00pm Evening Prayer with 4 Tuesday Organ Reflections** 8.30am Morning Prayer* 17 Monday 10.00am Funeral of Kathleen 8.30am Morning Prayer* 31 Monday Beacroft RIP 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 8.30am Morning Prayer* 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 18 Tuesday 5 Wednesday 8.30am Morning Prayer* 8.30am Morning Prayer* 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) September 6 Thursday 19 Wednesday The Transfiguration of Our Lord 8.30am Morning Prayer* 1 Tuesday 8.30am Morning Prayer* 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 8.30am Morning Prayer* 1.15pm Holy Communion (BCP) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 20 Thursday 7 Friday 8.30am Morning Prayer* 2 Wednesday 8.30am Morning Prayer* 1.15pm Holy Communion (BCP) 8.30am Morning Prayer* 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 21 Friday 8 Saturday 8.30am Morning Prayer* 3 Thursday 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 8.30am Morning Prayer* 9 SUNDAY 1.15pm Holy Communion (BCP) The Ninth Sunday after Trinity 22 Saturday 10.00am Cathedral Eucharist** 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 4 Friday (CW; in the Minster/online) 8.30am Morning Prayer* 12 noon Holy Baptism 23 SUNDAY 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 3.00pm Evening Prayer with The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Organ Reflections** 10.00am Cathedral Eucharist** 5 Saturday (CW; in the Minster/online) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 10 Monday 3.00pm Evening Prayer with 8.30am Morning Prayer* Organ Reflections** 6 SUNDAY 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity 24 Monday 10.00am Cathedral Eucharist** 11 Tuesday Bartholomew the Apostle (CW; in the Minster/online) 8.30am Morning Prayer* 8.30am Morning Prayer* 3.00pm Evening Prayer with 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) 1.15pm Holy Communion (CW) Organ Reflections**

12 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 From the Canon Precentor The music will play on with

We live in interesting times! It feels Southwell Music Festival very odd not to be able to submit full outhwell Music Festival has become a main stay in the town’s cultural two months’ service listings for Leaves, S diary since its launch in 2014. Normally in July we would be finalising but given the rate at which events are the plans and logistics involved in bringing a world class festival of choral, tending to move at the moment, chamber and orchestral music to Southwell; and people in the town and September feels a long way away! further afield would be hurriedly booking tickets for events that would be close to selling out. We are now settled into a pattern of worship which will take us through the In March we were at the point of finalising the 2020 programme, to be held summer – a 10.00 am Eucharist and 3.00 Evening Prayer on across the August Bank Holiday weekend, when we sadly had to make the Sundays (still without singing, sadly), and on weekdays a 1.15 decision to firstly cancel our launch event, and then the Festival itself. It’s service of Holy Communion. Also, Morning Prayer is said by a heart-breaking to think we won’t be filling the town with music this summer, that our musicians, singers, volunteers and the hard-working committee group of us on the internet via Microsoft Teams – a group won’t be coming together to create a six day Festival for our loyal friends, which others are always welcome to join. A parallel Eucharist and welcoming new audiences to venues across the town, as well as hosting on Sundays will continue to be broadcast on the Minster a number of free Festival Fringe events for everyone to enjoy. website. A decision is yet to be taken as to whether the online Compline service, broadcast at 7.30 pm on Thursdays, As a small charity, a significant proportion of the Festival’s annual income is generated through our ticket sales, and even though there isn’t a 2020 will continue through the summer, so that service does not Festival to finance, there are still annual organisational running costs that appear on this list; please see Pew News for updates. need to be met. We have been incredibly fortunate that our supporters and Once September arrives, all things being equal, we anticipate friends have generously donated to our emergency crowdfunding appeal, that life may take another step back in the direction of which to date has raised over £7,000. We would like to extend an enormous thank you to all those who have donated. Your generosity has been normality, and our pattern of worship may shift again. What appreciated. that means, and whether any greater musical input will be possible, remains to be seen. Again, please keep an eye on Alongside this we also made a successful application to Arts Council Pew News or the website. It is wonderful for some of us to England’s Emergency Funding scheme. This funding will go some way be back in the Minster worshipping; but whether we pray in towards covering our costs and developing the future of the Festival. We would like to publicly thank Arts Council England for this support, knowing church or at home, God is with us, and will guide us step by that hard decisions have needed to be made at what is an uncertain time for step into the future he has prepared for us, in which we are the whole arts and cultural sector. called serve him. 2020 is now our “fallow year” – time to reflect on all that has been achieved and look towards the Festival’s future. We truly hope that we can come together in some way for our annual Christmas celebration at the Minster, Lay Clerk and of course to be back with a bang in August 2021 with a Festival that exhilarates and inspires. in Lockdown Our much-loved Saturday evening concert in the Nave was due to take place on 29 August. We were planning what would have been a spectacular performance of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony, bringing together Festival have been a lay clerk at the performers in what is Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year. We invite you to I Minster for nearly twelve years. join us in setting aside the evening of 29 August 2020 to listen in your home Having never been a lay clerk to your favourite recording of this greatest of all symphonies, a symbol of joy [professional singer in a cathedral and fellowship which never fails to fill us with hope for the future. choir] before, it was an incredible We are very much looking forward to reuniting with our friends, supporters pleasure to become one in my fifties, Guy Turner pictured and volunteers in Southwell very soon. We look forward to performing and and suddenly to take part in on the right enjoying music together again as soon as its safe to do so. wonderful singing five times a week. So to have this taken away by If you wish to keep up to date with future Festival news and developments lockdown is very frustrating. I miss the singing very much please join our mailing list by visiting southwellmusicfestival.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (search Southwell Music Festival). indeed, and it is a source of constant anxiety not knowing when we will be able to sing again - and for that matter, when the The online crowdfunding Bingham Choral Society which I conduct will be able to re- appeal is also still open; group. should you wish to make a donation please visit Luckily the social side of the Lay clerks – which is something of southwellmusicfestival.com/ a second family – keeps going on Zoom through quiz nights and Fund2020. ‘virtual pub’. Although I live on my own, I have been too busy Amy Rushby to be bored or depressed, as some of my work in the quiz industry continues, and I have been very lucky to have been commissioned to compose several pieces of music to keep me busy. (But I also thank heaven for the family ‘bubbles’ that are now becoming possible!) Photograph courtesy But none of this makes up for not being able to sing. of Dick Makin Guy Turner

13 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Race, Identity and Faith Vincent Ashwin on Christian responses to Racism

he killing of George Floyd in Another cause of racism is a feeling of T the USA in May shocked the superiority over a whole group of world. A bystander filmed the long people. In the old South Africa, whites minutes when a white policeman often referred to blacks as ‘these knelt on the windpipe of a black people’, implying that blacks were all fellow-American. The protests that the same, all inferior and therefore were organized under the banner of not to be trusted. I was reminded of ‘Black Lives Matter’ took place all this recently when an MP talked about round the world, including the UK, Europeans as ‘these people’, with black and white people of all suggesting that the main thing about ages demonstrating together in a them is that they also are different unique show of unity. Banners even from us. appeared in Southwell. The main Sadly this superiority can also be seen message was nearly lost in in the Church. A black Catholic priest indignation about historic statues and wrote about his experience: ‘Consider mass gatherings where nobody Banner on the Burgage this vignette: I arrive at a suburban observed social distancing, but the parish whose members are sense of anti-racist solidarity was overwhelmingly white to celebrate Mass for a fellow priest who had clear. suddenly taken sick. I ask the usher to direct me to the vestry. He Race has recently been discussed in many contexts: Why have so hesitates and asks, with suspicion, “Why do you want to know?” I many Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic explain the situation to him, thinking my (BAME) people died from coronavirus? How clerical collar is already a complete is it there are still racist officers in the police explanation of why I am here. He force? When will our country’s leading role interrogates me, “You’re a priest? Who sent in trading slaves be recognised? Did racism you?” After explaining yet again who I am play a part in the hostility of the press and why I am here, he responds, “‘Well, why towards Megan, Duchess of Sussex? Will didn’t he send us a real priest”’ our Church appoint another black diocesan bishop? Clearly there has been progress, In this country, when John Sentamu was but racism is stubbornly persistent, and the appointed Archbishop of York, some church- Church is not immune. people were heard to ask, ‘Couldn’t they find a white one?’ One cause of racism is to do with identity. There’s the extremist view: ‘I am British, I At its best, the Christian Church has worked belong here, and anyone who is not like me to stop racism. Quaker Christians were active doesn’t really belong.’ Forty years ago this in the USA abolitionist movement as early as was called the cricket test: ‘If you support the 18th century. William Wilberforce said it the West Indies or Pakistan, you’re not truly was his Evangelical Christianity that impelled British.’ This simplistic view denies the fact him to help abolish the slave trade in this that people can have several identities. country. Martin Luther King was a Baptist Think of Freddie Trueman, who is totally a minister, and it was his reading of the Bible Yorkshireman and totally English. An Arab in that made him prominent in the American Galilee described to me her four identities: Civil Rights movement. The elderly Al Patrick Hutchinson rescues Sharpton who preached at George Floyd’s ‘I am first Arab, then Palestinian, then a a far-right demonstrator Christian, and then an Israeli citizen.’ So a funeral in June was a Baptist colleague of black Londoner can be as British as a white Southwellian, but remain King’s. In South Africa the mainstream proud of his culture. churches pressed for the end of apartheid, and leaders like Trevor Huddlestone and Desmond Tutu were harassed, imprisoned or A recent BBC drama, Sitting in Limbo, was about race and identity. It exiled for their trouble. Working for justice and against racism is told the real-life story of Anthony Bryan who came to this country part of the Judaeo-Christian ethic. From the Old Testament prophets from Jamaica with his mother fifty years ago; she worked with the to the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns today, NHS and he was a painter and decorator. Each week he would believers have pointed out injustices and worked for change. support Spurs and then go on to the West Indian social club. But he had no passport and was taken into custody ready for deportation in A lot remains to be done. The danger is that, because most of us in what is now called The Windrush Scandal. When the deportation Southwell are white Britons who have never been victims of was overturned, he was asked by a parliamentary enquiry whether prejudice, we don’t recognise it in ourselves or understand it in he thought a white Canadian-born Briton would have been others. When we really listen to people’s hurt and give time to threatened with deportation in a similar situation. He thought not, examining ourselves, then we can be part of the change the needs and added, ‘I lost everything, my home, my freedom and my to come. identity.’ His identity was both black and British.

14 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Tribalism in the Media and Online Hugh Middleton

little while ago I picked up a copy of a current affairs weekly entrepreneurs. It might be people who reject their biologically A that usually passes me by. It was one of those occasions when determined gender, it might be people who share experiences or I was obliged to sit and wait, and fill the time with whatever reading perceptions of oppression, or it might just as easily be those who material was to hand. I imagine we have all had the experience; in oppose and disagree with them. The core feature of a tribe, in these the doctor’s or the dentist’s waiting room or perhaps when visiting terms, is that it reflects a grouping of shared views. friends or relatives. What is to hand might not be what one would Characteristically these are dominated by exaggerated objections buy or subscribe to but needs must and anyway, curiosity beckons. to, and the systematic invalidation of other perspectives. In the first instance, huddling together is much more attractive than embracing What struck me on his occasion was how different the tone was the stranger. from my usual diet of The Guardian and The Observer. It was a relatively recent edition and much of the commentary concerned Digital technology and the social media platforms it has spawned Black Lives Matter demonstrations, statues, political correctness, have led to an explosion in the readiness with which like-minded the ‘woke’ culture [Dictionary definition: ‘alert to injustice in individuals can communicate with one another. They have also led society, especially racism’], and experiences of living under to an explosion in the number and variety of forums available for ‘lockdown’. It was balanced and as critical of authorities as my usual online communication. Two obvious consequences arise. Firstly, the fare, but what struck me was how consistently the content reflected question of choice; the sheer number of online channels of a particular frame of reference. Of course black lives matter, but communication means that a choice has to be made if one is to aren’t objectionable leftists taking advantage of the opportunities engage with any. Who still remembers just one or two television these demonstrations offer? Weren’t J.K. Rowling’s now adult film channels? Secondly, the consequences of anonymity; one can join stars behaving ungratefully? Isn’t the risk of contracting Covid-19 an online group (or tribe) without disclosing one’s full identity, higher when queuing at Primark, or picnicking in the park higher unlike actually attending a physical meeting or another form of than attending school? Throughout, and unsurprisingly given the gathering. Together these, and probably other features such as publication in question, the tone was consistently that of a round the clock availability mean that ‘tribes’ can form much more particular world view, and one that differs from mine. readily and much less transparently than hitherto. Choice, in particular, makes it much more likely that these will become self- The reminder, for this was far from my first encounter, led me to reinforcing echo chambers, where participants are able to engage reflect upon media ‘echo chambers’. What was really more striking with and share particularly narrow and specialised views, and find than views expressed in the publication was the consistency of them validated and amplified rather than questioned and debated. tone. Returning to my usual fare, of course I found the same phenomenon. Views were different, analyses pointed in different Although the consequences of, for instance, chat rooms that directions and events were portrayed from a different perspective advocate gender fluidity and chat rooms that object to it might but my own chosen newspapers have an equally consistent tone. I appear distinct from longstanding differences between newspapers choose to read them and others make different choices, and of that lean to the left and newspapers that lean to the right, at root course in both cases we choose to read what we want to hear. they have much in common: tribalism. Christianity teaches us that There is nothing new or surprising about that conclusion, but it may we are all the same in God’s eyes, and that might be worth be worth reflecting upon it a little further. remembering when we leap to condemn those holding views or taking positions that differ from our own. Social science is, at heart, the study of how and why people aggregate into particular patterns of association. There are many ways of understanding why ‘birds of a feather flock together’, but all are underpinned by the comfort that comes from being in the company of like- minded others. It is easier to feel valued. One’s coveted identity is affirmed. There is a shared language and world view, and as a result it is easier to share goals and cooperate over fulfilling them. Much of human history can be read as a story in which different tribes form, consolidate and interact, often quite disastrously. A tribe, in these terms might be a set of people with common ancestry, but it might just as easily be a subgroup within a politically identified nation which has a set of common interests, such as the wealthy landowners of yore, slave owners, or colonial

15 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Archaeology in the Residence Garden: the answer to what was happening in the Dean’s garden in 2018 /19.

oon after Dean Nicola moved until the present time, builds on previous discoveries and improves S into the Residence, she and our understanding of Southwell’s Roman Villa. More recent work in her husband Terry embarked upon the other gardens of Vicars’ Court currently being analysed will add re-landscaping the extensive further to our understanding of the Villa to Minster story. garden. They were aware that the archaeological significance of the Southwell Community Archaeology Group Residence garden has been recognised for centuries and it is included in Southwell’s Roman Villa Scheduled Ancient Monument. In 2018 they offered Southwell Community Archaeology Group the opportunity of making use of Neck of 17th Century “bearded the inevitable upheaval of the man” jug from Cologne landscaping work to carry out a survey. Supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund the project included a study of archive material on the Residence and the architectural stonework scattered throughout the garden. The archaeological survey began by employing ground penetrating radar to look beneath more recent features for anticipated remains of the Villa. The results seemed to confirm the accepted view and the garden indeed appears to contain a courtyard feature which is probably the core of a high status Roman villa.

A thorough search was made before and during the new landscaping work for material disturbed by previous work and two archaeological trenches were excavated. Large quantities of Roman building materials, such as roof tiles, bricks, mortar, wall Geophysical Survey plaster and large numbers of tesserae from mosaic floors were found.

There was also pottery dating from the 1st to 21st centuries. Quantities of clay pipe bowls dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries provided evidence of the smoking habits of a long line of Residents, or their gardeners.

This work, revealing ample evidence of continuous occupation from the Roman period MosaicTesserae Roman roof tile Clay Pipe Bowls

16 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Whose Garden Was This? A short retrospective

om Paxton, the American folk singer, who first came to song , wrote , ‘Look at T fame in the mid 1960’s and who was my chief inspiration in mother nature on the run’ terms of wanting to learn to play guitar and sing, wrote ’Whose in the 1970’s.’ Joni Mitchell Garden was this?’ in 1970. Under the shadow of the brutal war In in her ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ song Vietnam, the Cuban Missile crisis of 1963 and the Cold War tells the farmers ‘ to put between East and West, Tom Paxton and other artists expressed away your DDT.’ She also great anxiety about the future of the earth. How true those words sings about putting trees ring true in 2020. Of course, he may have also been influenced by ‘in a tree museum.’ In the the nuclear threat but, as you can see clearly from the simple early 70’s Cat Stevens lyrics, the speaker (possibly a child in a future time) is reflecting on asked, ‘Where do the a planet that has been destroyed and the song is very much a children play?’ and sings lament for the loss of our natural environment. It represents the about ‘building roads over concerns of the environmentalist movement of the 1960’s and 70’s fresh green grass. particularly about pollution, toxic waste and pesticides. Joni Mitchell in the

April 22nd, 1970 marked the first ever official Earth day when millions of Americans took to the streets to protest. 2020 celebrates the 50th anniversary of the movement, and of course, climate change is very much at the top of the agenda. Although, environmentalism originated in the early 20th Century, ecology was now the buzz word and the movement quickly At the end of the 1980s, the environmental movement began to established momentum. Groups such as Friends of the Earth and focus on acid rain, the ozone layer and greenhouse gasses. Popular Greenpeace were established on the 70s and yet fifty years on, music continued to beat the drum of protest with a host of songs although some of the issues have changed, the philosophy and such as Michael Jackson’s ’Earth Song’ which was yet another plea ethics are unaltered, and we are faced with a climate emergency to ‘save the planet.’ of momentous proportions. In previous centuries pastoral literature of the 17th Century looked Whose Garden Was This? to a more Arcadian (in the sense of a classical paradise) existence. Whose garden was this? It must have For example, in Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’, the Forest of Arden Been lovely is a place of retreat from urban corruption. This genre was popular Did it have flowers? I've seen pictures of flowers in establishing the back-to-nature philosophy. Contemplation and And I'd love to have smelled one. reflection were key aspects. Indeed, in Andrew Marvell’s celebrated 17th Century poem ‘The Garden’ he is anticipating Tell me again, I need to know early environmentalist thinking when he shows his disdain for the The forests had trees, the meadows were green lack of respect for nature and its importance. In the poem, he The oceans were blue, and birds really flew compares himself with the lonely Adam in Eden. He argues that Can you swear that was true? being solitary was a second paradise (heavenly state) for Adam, before Eve brought about the fall. Whose river was this? You say it ran freely Blue was its colour. I've seen blue in some pictures In the early 19th Century, the entire Romantic movement in art, And I'd love to have been there. music and literature highlighted the power and force of nature and that being closer to nature was spiritual and enriching, as in Whose grey sky was this? Or was it a blue one? Wordsworth’s long autobiographical poem, ‘The Prelude.’ At night there were breezes, I've heard records of breezes and I'd love to have felt one. The symbolic meaning of a garden is that of an enclosure or a safe Tom Paxton and sacred place of retreat - a kind of sanctuary. The Garden of Eden was an earthly paradise which exposed mankind’s loss of The symbol of the garden as the earth at the time of the so -called innocence. flower power generation was powerful, the key words at the time being environmentalism and ecology. In 1969 the Woodstock Hopefully, after the pandemic we can try to build on the positive Festival was a musical gathering of like-minded people who of clearer and cleaner air, less traffic, and less noise pollution. Will wanted to save the planet rather like Extinction Rebellion of the experience of a slower pace of life change people’s attitudes to present times. The signature song, ‘Woodstock,’ written by Joni the natural world and our planet? Sadly, it may be too much to Mitchell became an anthem for a better and healthier expect. environment. She sang, ‘and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.’ Again, the garden is synonymous with a prelapsarian innocence but also a oneness with nature. Tom Hislop

Apart from Tom Paxton, other singer songwriters expressed their pessimism about the planet. Neil Young, in his ‘After the Goldrush’

17 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 News from the Newark and Southwell Deanery

Phil White is vicar of the Benefice of West Trent: Bleasby, Halloughton, Hoveringham, Morton/Fiskerton, Rolleston, Thurgarton, Upton.

ear ‘Leaves’ Reader, (some of which might surprise you!). I come back refreshed. Do D we take enough time to do something to attend to our sense of We’re often asked the question how‘ are you?’ and we respond who we are, by discovering ‘otherness’, through music, art, ‘fine, thanks’or the over used and possibly meaningless phrase poetry, reading, listening, writing, bringing relief to others, ‘getting used to a new normal’. But how are you really? worship? Are we making the most of the opportunity in this time of challenge? Recently I would have answered by saying I was a bit sad, because Ian Holm the actor had died. (There are more significant things I It’s also too easy to think how lucky we are to live where we do feel, but that’s what I’m telling you now!). He played Bilbo Baggins etc. We also need to do something for others. We have started a (Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - I’m a fan). He fund to set up a food bank in rural Kenya (The Bank of Grace) to has passed on through the ‘Grey Havens’, a Tolkien metaphor for enable the local churches show compassion to those in need. It death as the departure point for the next leg of the journey. has expanded to bring relief to those suffering from ‘jiggers’, an insect which burrows into hands and feet causing infection and We are hopeful of moving on through the C-19 leg of our journey. disability. Checkout our Facebook page, ‘Bungoma Calling’. We remember those whose lives it has claimed and those whose help and skill have eased us through - so far at least. After all, I was reading about Adrian Chiles the BBC presenter. He writes of there is no guarantee we are through it yet. how he became a Catholic and enjoyed returning to Mass recently. He recalled speaking to his priest about faith, since he In the West Trent Benefice we say ‘hello and how are you’ twice a came from an atheist family. He was told ‘It’s hard to find God week since lockdown via Zoom worship! Someone told me about through the church, you’re much more likely to find the church Zoom one week, and the next we had over sixty coming to through God’. Finding God, a spiritual peace, is possibly easier participate in live worship. It has been an extraordinary through a pandemic? But it is really up to us to attend to things experience. The cheery exchange of greetings on screen have beyond what we can normally touch, see and feel. The pandemic been followed by requests for time to get to know other is not all fearful bad news, it’s an opportunity. worshippers a bit. Some were coming for the first time and others from neighbouring villages didn’t yet know each other. Almost all So how are you, really? of us were confined to our own homes, but feeling a warm release in the experience of virtual community and worship. Virtual but “I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. nonetheless very real! (Checkout our website "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. ‘beneficeofwesttrent.org' or email me for information). But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” So how are you? How am I?

I read these facts: 80% of those working from home feel a negative mental health impact. 25% of those are finding it difficult to cope with the emotional challenges of isolation. 39% of those in a married or civil partnership report high levels of anxiety compared to 19% pre-pandemic. I’m beginning to realize there are ways it has affected me, and it’s all too easy to say to myself ‘I’m fine’when I’m not. What’s worse is that, without attending to my own well- being, I might be inflicting it on someone else and not realizing it. It’s time to check ourselves out, be honest with ourselves, deal with it before we inflict it on those around us. We can’t ‘love our neighbour’ if we are not ‘loving ourselves’ (in this sense).

I once did a personality preference course (Myers Briggs; maybe you’ve heard of it.) and I recall a recommendation for someone with my particular profile: ‘make yourself listen to music, even though you think it’ll be a waste of your time’! I find that amusing because it is so true of me. I’ve made a conscious effort lately to put on my headphones, take Leonard (our Golden Retriever) for a Inside Bleasby Church really long walk and listen to a playlist of favourite tracks

18 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 East Trent Online Life in Lockdown.

Mandy Cartwright is rector of the East Trent group of parishes, between Newark and Gainsborough

icture the scene if you will: it was an evening get together However, I realise that I’ve ignored the many people for whom P for coffee, prayer and Bible reading at the end of a couple that is impossible, perhaps especially with our widespread of warm, June days. Proving the truth of the definition of an grouping. English summer being ‘two nice days and a thunderstorm’ one of us heard a roll of thunder, felt a slight cooling of the air and When it comes to technology my interest has been close to nil, heard the sudden downpour. The rest of us looked bemused in but since coming to the East Trent Group I’ve appreciated its the close, still and dry air until all agreed that it was raining, then usefulness and since the doors of our churches were locked and with minutes apart, one by one, we all heard the thunder and are now opened up to limited numbers of people and activities, rain. my use and appreciation has blossomed. Thanks to my son I was persuaded and helped to create a You Tube channel and make What was happening, you may ask. Was this some sort of videos, including a memorable demonstration of how to make a supernatural phenomenon on a Biblical scale, whereby God paper “palm cross” (please don’t ask me to do that again!). revealed Godself to us all individually through a deluge? Not at Thanks to my husband, we were able to venture out of the study all; what was happening was that we were having our weekly at the Rectory and make outdoor films. Once we were able to ZOOM meeting, which four months earlier I’d never heard of. meet other people, a number of willing volunteers joined in to We had made our own coffee, chosen our own biscuits and sat share their thoughts about the pandemic and how their down in the comfort of our own homes in front of various communities have responded, as well as reading Bible passages screens. Because the East Trent Group is made up of eleven and prayers. These films have been published on You Tube and churches in fifteen villages and small hamlets, we are spread out shared via Facebook and email. More people view these along the A1133 Gainsborough Road, with a few border crossings recorded services than attend church and they’ve increased our into Lincolnshire. So, while we sat at home, we could all awareness of each other and helped us to feel closer. experience the storm in different places as it travelled north. We don’t want to lose what we’ve gained and now we have Surprisingly, this had quite a profound effect on us. It cropped up decided to continue with a mixture of live and pre-recorded in conversations over the next few days and gave us lots of food services, as well as prayers on Facebook and written reflections, for thought. On a very basic and self-preserving level, we all shared by email and hard copies. agreed that it felt nice to know that when the meeting ended, we hadn’t got to go out into the damp dark night and drive home One lady in her nineties who on Easter Day surfed happily from along roads which very quickly fill up with deep puddles. On a the Vatican to St David’s Cathedral and finally to East Trent, has deeper level, we were all moved to realise that life differs from told me that what she wants from church at present is more village to village. Sharing each other’s experiences made us feel Bible Studies via ZOOM, so we shall certainly be continuing them closer and in fact, we all agreed that we feel closer because of and watching out for each other’s storms. the ZOOM meetings. For one thing, we have been meeting more often and people have started attending who never came to our physical meetings. Others have contributed more and although to begin with, meeting online felt really false, awkward and exhausting, we have relaxed into it and now we can manage helpful small talk and moments of sheer hilarity. I will never forget the conversation which went like this: Isn’t this a quote from Isaiah? No, that was Bob Dylan.

The pressure to get ready and out in time, to open up a church building and make drinks and wash up afterwards is lifted. Our cars and roads get a rest and we can get to our TVs in time for the 9pm drama.

Now, I am really surprised to be writing this. I’ve always insisted strongly that personal, face-to-face encounters are best, in shared space with good hospitality. After all, didn’t Jesus do some of his best work around the dinner table?

19 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 COVID-19 Worldwide

Hugh Middleton

n June 30 the Royal College of Physicians hosted a webinar O under the title COVID-19 stories from around the world. It included contributions from Oman, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Malaysia and the United States. First up was His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Alsaidi, Health Minister to the Sultanate of Oman. Formally dressed and formally presented he began with a celebration of how the Omani healthcare system had developed over the last fifty years, from very basic provision in the form of a couple of mission hospitals to a well-resourced Finally, Dr. David Martin, a British doctor practising in Boston public health service along the lines of our NHS. The population is Massachusetts gave his view of how things were in the United much smaller than ours; some 4.7 million, and the presentation States. As is widely acknowledged, when compared with other was an upbeat description of how this fortunate population were OECD countries’, the US healthcare system is expensive but responsive to restrictions and was being supported and provided delivers poor outcomes if considered in terms of the whole for. Difficulties were those presented by the additional 1.7 million population. It is administratively fragmented, with only limited migrant workers who were not so accessible or responsive to the federal input into public health measures and so a consistent authorities; and the availability of personal protective equipment response had been impossible. He described how, by June 30, (PPE) and ventilators. The need for such equipment was presented Covid-19 had spread from the Atlantic coast to southern states as an opportunity to invest in manufacturing it locally. and on to the west. In his own hospital equipment supplies had A Pakistani perspective was provided by Dr. Salma Abbas,who is not been much of a problem, but across the country getting an infectious diseases consultant at Shaukat Khanum Memorial enough of them to the right places had been. Those who were Cancer Hospital. Pakistan’s is a largely private healthcare system in suffering most were those who were already vulnerable on which only 30% is publicly provided, and that is regionally rather account of pre-existing health difficulties and, significantly, the than nationally administered. As a result, there had been helpers; healthcare workers, cleaners, transport employees, difficulties in collecting data and mounting aco-ordinated essential retail staff and the like. He drew attention to the tragic response. Dr. Abbas referred to a ‘sea of misinformation’ which suicide of Lorna Breen, a New York physician who had found this was making it difficult to reassure an anxious population and work too hard to bear. healthcare staff reliant upon poor PPE. Furthermore, the fact that I thought it might be interesting to set these experiences against many live in poverty had made generalised ‘lockdown’ figures provided by the European Centre for Disease Control who unsustainable and attempts were being made to enforce it in local hotspots, but the limited availability of tests was making that Total reported cases Total deaths attribut- imprecise and hard to implement. of Covid-19 per ed to Covid-19 per million population million population Professor Innocent Gangaidzo gave an African view from Harare. Oman 10577 48.1 He reminded us that Zimbabwe spends some £100 per person per Pakistan 1117.5 24.3 year on a healthcare system that employs some 1.6 doctors per Zimbabwe 63.3 0.9 10,000 population (comparable figures for the UK are £3,000 and Malaysia 268 3.75 28). A national emergency was declared in late March, but political United States 9305 406 and economic difficulties of recent decades have degraded the United Kingdom 4595 658 country. In relation to Covid-19 this means that the efficacy of ‘lockdown’ is limited and it has been difficult to use what testing have been providing statistics by country on a daily basis since the and medical facilities there are in a rational way. Although there pandemic began. These are as they stood on July 11. had been relatively few reported cases of Covid-19 or deaths Much may have changed by the time you read this and these figures are attributable to it by June 30, it was unclear how reliable these dependent upon local methods of case detection and definition, so I figures were and what to make of them. won’t try and draw any conclusions …

Professor Tan Maw Pin of the University of Malaysia gave a contrasting account. Prior experience of SARS had provided some preparation, but they had been shocked when a single massed religious gathering resulted in 3,000 cases of Covid-19, nearly half of all reported cases in the country. Given close cultural associations with China and prior experiences with SARS most of the population were compliant with restrictions and the expectations of test and trace. A significant population of undocumented migrant workers had proved a challenge that demanded somewhat draconian measures, and Malaysia includes some 30,000 people living in some 1,000 unregistered care homes which were proving a continuing challenge.

20 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Did you know… that Sacrista Prebend was once the Grammar School Headmaster’s house?

n the last issue we looked at the history of the Prebendal Kirkland who founded the firm of solicitors still occupying the I Houses of our Minster from an early historical aspect, that they premises. were the residences of the secular canons, the Prebendaries, who Oxton 1 Prebend, now called Cranfield House, is Queen Anne in formed the Chapter of the Minster and ran its affairs. Let us now date and named after Cranfield Becher who lived there in the look at their more recent history. These Prebendaries often leased 1800s. The new Oxton 1 house would have been built behind an their Prebendal Houses to tenants, installed a resident vicar in their earlier one and is stylistically 1700 -1720 in date, so Queen Anne in Prebendal parish and were represented in the choir of Southwell by style. The correct proportions of the house were in the very latest a vicar choral. fashion of the period; in the view of Norman Summers it is an A good example of this is that Dunham Prebendal House, now exquisite exercise in classical design which has no equal in the called Dunham Prebend, was leased to the Lowe family who also town. Its connection with the Mompessons was well covered in the resided there. They were prominent in the county and were allied last issue of Leaves. William Mompesson is buried in Eakring by marriage to the Sherbrookes of Oxton and the Clays of churchyard and there is an interesting cross memorial just on the Southwell. The house was improved by Sherbrooke Lowe in about edge of the village. 1780, and then by George Hodgkinson Barrow who, in 1805, Ashleigh is more or less an early 19th Century re-fronting of the purchased the freehold of the property, added a rear range of earlier Prebendal property of Woodborough. rooms and gave it a Regency flavour. The land behind the House became known as "Lowe's Wong" - Mr. Lowe's piece of land. The The Prebendal house of Normanton presents an impressive three- present Prebendal house, turned into private apartments, is the storied façade to Church Street. William Mompesson, after his property of the Rural District Council; Jubilee House, a range of experiences at Eyam, was appointed to the living of Normanton in modern buildings forming the Diocesan Offices, hides much of the 1671, and probably kept this house for his own occupation until he rear of the Prebend. moved to Eakring in 1703, when he leased the property to Elizabeth Lloyd of Halam for 99 years. The excellent Georgian The mansion of the Prebend of Rampton stands immediately proportions of the house are consistent with 1765-75. opposite the west gate of the Minster. It has recently been refurbished to reveal the early 17th century diaper-patterned South Muskham Prebend faces the Saracen’s Head Inn looking brickwork and might still be called ‘one of the best Prebends in westwards. The House, dating from the 15th century, was largely town’, as did W Dickinson Rastall in 1787. rebuilt in the 18th century but sadly was severely damaged by fire some years ago. Richard Becher leased the house from the end of Sacrista Prebend was the 18th century and it remained in the Becher family until 1916. changed towards the John Thomas Becher, creator of the Workhouse in 1824, also built end of the 1700s into Hill House on the edge of the Manor of Burgage, later a boarding the pretty ‘Gothic house for Minster choristers and now private apartments. The Revival’ building we see Prebendal house was for a while an Old Peoples’ Home. today by surgeon Doubtless there are many more stories that could be told by these Nicholas Hutchinson. Prebendal houses; the above gives you a flavor of their recent The house was history. purchased in 1939 by John Player and Wiith acknowledgement to Norman Summers: presented to the “A Prospect of Southwell” Sacrista Prebend Ecclesiastical James Pinder, on behalf of the Guild of Stewards Commissioners to provide a house for the choristers of the cathedral, later leased to the Minster Grammar School on the same conditions. Latterly this Prebend was the Grammar School Headmaster’s house and then a Retreat House for the Diocese, now for the Minster.

Nothing now remains of Oxton 2 house following developments by the Saracens Head, the Methodist Chapel and Memorial Hall. So, progressing eastwards towards the north-west end of Church St we come to Norwell Overhall Prebend. It was leased to one William Clay in 1668 when he was Steward at Southwell for the Archbishop of York, and remained in the hands of his descendants until the early years of the 19th century. In 1758 it was divided to provide marriage settlements for the two children of John Clay; the two parts today are represented by ex -Nat West Bank, now back into private hands, and Minster Lodge. The late 18th century range of rooms across the front remain intact in Minster Lodge. The lease of North Muskham Prebend was taken in 1769 by Thomas Falkner, who improved it so much that Rastall considered it ‘a handsome new brick house’. It was sold in 1866 to John Cranfield House

21 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Confinement à la Française:

laine is a long-standing friend of Alison E Middleton’s. They were VSO cadets together in Zambia in 1969. Elaine married a Frenchman and has lived in Brittany, teaching English at the University of Nantes. Here is an account of the French experience.

Sidéré. Good word that. Not one you hear very often: Dumbstruck, dumbfounded, gutted, staggered.

‘Les français étaient sidérés’ when President Macron, accompanied by the Tricolour, the EU flag and the Marseillaise told us to stay in our homes.

‘Français, Françaises, my dear compatriots, it is my solemn duty to tell you that we are at President Macron addresses the nation on March 16 2020 war...’

At war? Against an unseen, invisible enemy that proceeds by Perhaps all this was a little too late: shutting the stable door after stealth. We never saw it coming. the pangolin had bolted?

We all knew that in faraway China the Province of Hubei had been Where we live nothing extraordinary happens. During the February shut down. The epicentre was Wuhan, wherever that was, a place half term holiday some parishioners joined with others from where they eat bats and pangolins … whatever they are. It couldn’t neighbouring villages to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. On their be too serious. They didn’t shut down Beijing … perhaps because arrival in Italy their temperatures were checked, but on their return they only eat Pekin duck. Some 300 French citizens were evacuated to France there were no such precautions. Unlike the poor man from Wuhan at the end of January, first to Britain to drop off some who travelled to Rome from Stornoway, none of them received a British evacuees, and then to a military base at Istres, Bouches du death threat. Some of our pilgrims are local councillors, and some Rhône, and into quarantine for 14 days. of the councillors are members of a choir which rehearses in a small, overheated room in the old presbytery. On the March 6 the We thought no more about it. This wasn’t the first pandemic; SARS, choir gave a concert to a packed and appreciative audience at the Swine Flu, Ebola, H1N1 Bird Flu and others that never got near us. AGM of the local Crédit Agricole bank. Why should we bother about this one? My son drinks Corona beer, my brother lives on Corona Road. Corona: crown; regal, an upper Two months later we emerged from our confinement, blinking in crust virus, and China is a long way away. France sent masks and the sunlight to discover this new world around us … and to observe other medical equipment to help the Chinese. We wouldn’t be cultural differences. Amongst the personal services to reopen that needing them ourselves. Chinese tourists were stopped in Paris first Monday, equipped with plexiglass screens and masks, were and told to take off their masks. France is an open society, a the hairdressing salons, clearly deemed by the French to be an democracy, and it is against the law, strictly forbidden to cover absolute necessity, unlike some of our more hirsute neighbours your face. who felt they could wait somewhat longer.

So, having been sidérés, on March 16, we also found ourselves My first big outing was to buy a table and chairs for the garden; un confines. Another good word. Charming and a bit old fashioned: salon de jardin. Waiting at the exit for the packages to be delivered withdrawal from society towards the end of pregnancy. For a I watched the security guard turn away two bikers trying to get into queen (she with a corona) there would be ceremonial retirement the store unmasked. The sign on the front of the bus into town from court, closing of the shutters and blessing of the room. Six now reads Masque Obligatoire. Only half of the seats on the bus weeks on her day bed in the gloom to think and to prepare for the may be used to preserve social distancing, which makes for a more new arrival. comfortable ride with plenty of room for your legs and your bags. As the driver is cordoned off from the passengers you can’t get to The President said that we would be confined for 2 weeks (to start the front of the bus to stamp your ticket, so it also means that this with anyway, but he was a bit vague). We could leave the shutters is a free ride. open if we wanted, but going outside was strictly limited and you had to carry a pass, stating why you were outside and what time Look on the bright side. There are some advantages to this post you had left the house. Outings were limited to one hour. In our confinement new world. little backwater we had the gendarmes mobiles out on the streets, the men in black (not the usual gendarmes in blue) politely Elaine Kennedy Dubourdieu checking that our passes were in order.

22 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 Isabella’s journal - highlights from a 9 year old’s lockdown diary

oday is VE DAY for eating in the tent (we never did eat them in the tent because as T VE Day was a time to celebrate the end of World War 2. soon as we decorated them I forgot and we ate them all up). Then People travelled to London because it was the best place to party we put the tent up. There was a bit of shouting at first but we at that time. People were happy because the war was over but finally got there. When we were meant to go to sleep me and other people were happy and sad; they were sad because their James were talking and pretending my mum and dad couldn't hear family might have died, and they were happy because the war was us (they definitely could) then we all went to sleep. over. People brought out banners and posters and bunting, they brought out food and tables so they could have a street party with Lockdown coming to an end? all their friends and family. It is important to remember VE day because people were very brave and worked as a team. Children In lockdown we were bored, but it doesn’t mean we can’t still have got evacuated and people fought in the war. Women worked in fun. Take walks for example, when lockdown first happened, we factories and fought in the war. My great grandfather was a para could go on walks but we still couldn’t see our friends or family at D day! Civilians lived in bombed out houses and lived on rations. Then it got a bit better, we were allowed to go in the car to So VE day really means thank you and well done. Lincoln. Then things changed a bit more, we were allowed to have walks with other people, 2 metres apart though, and that is what I My lockdown day: wanted to tell you about. It was really fun - we normally went on walks with friends Eva and Isaac. On every walk James and Isaac In lockdown I normally get up and watch youTube. I go downstairs found a stick to keep them apart. They called it a 2 metre stick that and have breakfast, it’s either bagels or waffles. Then my dad tells made me and Eva laugh. My brother James who’s 7 once said a me to eat our vitamins, they’re disgusting but we have to eat them really smart thing, ‘I think every step of lockdown is getting better anyway. Then I have to go upstairs to say hello to mummy, though and better.’ We can now go to our grandma and grandad’s garden usually she’s in meetings. Then I have to get changed and brush my and they sometimes bring us snacks and I feel really happy that we teeth. I go downstairs for another boring day of Maths and can see them face to face and not just on ZOOM. English. After the two hours of school I have lunch. Then my Grandma calls for story time when she reads a book on FaceTime. After that we normally just chill; I do some art and go on the trampoline, ZOOM my friends, help daddy in the garden. My dad does meetings- after his meeting we all have to read a book. Then my mum comes downstairs from her meetings. Then we go on a walk. Our favourite walk is to a place we call Wind in the Willows which we named from the book our grandma read to us. We go home and have dinner together as a family: we had meatballs last night. Then we go to sleep.

Bringing France here

We were meant to go to France this year but then the corona virus started and we couldn't go. So we brought France here. It was a wonderful sunny day so my mum said ‘why don't we put the paddling pool out?’ and I said ‘brilliant idea and we can put out chairs and lay out a blanket and a towel on top and eat ice cream’. So we did - it was the best day.

We’re now allowed to go to the beach

It was a big surprise. We drove for about an hour and when we got there my Mum said ‘what if I told you that we weren't going on a long walk today because we’re going to the beach?’ I said ‘what - really, yes! I'm so excited’. In the car I closed my eyes so it would be a surprise for me. The beach, which was warm, was not very crowded. This was good because we were meant to be social distancing with other people. Me and my brother played in the sea and covered each other up with sand whilst my mum and dad peacefully relaxed by the shore. After, we got an ice cream.

Camping In the garden

One of my favourite things in lockdown was camping in the tent. Before we even put the tent up, we made some cupcakes. It was mine and James’ first time ever baking on our own. We made them

23 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020 24 Southwell Leaves August & September 2020